Daughter’s Health Challenges Spark a Passion for Advocacy and Education
Tia Mason Howard (MET’13)
Director of Communications, Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center; Adjunct Professor, Towson University
MS, Health Communication
This interview was originally published in spring 2025.
What inspired you to pursue a graduate degree in Health Communication? Was there a pivotal moment or professional challenge that led you to MET?
I had always enjoyed working in health-focused settings and projects in my public relations career, and wanted to enhance my education for both personal and professional growth. My daughter’s health challenges, including multiple food allergies, asthma, and eczema, inspired me to become an advocate and educate others. When I applied to MET, I was working for a company that was later hit by the 2008 Great Recession, leading to bankruptcy, multiple layoffs, and the elimination of my position, along with many others. I started the MET program during this job transition, and landed at a company that later contributed to my graduate education tuition.
Why did you choose BU MET over other graduate programs? What factors made MET stand out for you?
I wanted to attend a university that had a strong reputation for academic research with highly regarded expertise in two fields of study: public health and communications. As a working professional, MET appealed because it gave me the rigor and flexibility I needed to advance my career, yet allowed me to balance the priorities of parenting young children at the time.
Looking back, how has your degree from MET influenced your career trajectory? Were there opportunities, promotions, or career shifts that you attribute to your time in the program?
While working for an advanced technology company that supports multiple government agencies, my corporate communications work focused primarily on national security and defense clients. However, the company also supported federal and commercial health clients, a market that was experiencing significant growth. Because of my graduate degree, which the company helped pay for, I was promoted to primarily support our internal health leadership in executive communications and our health technology clients. This led me to a greater understanding of the pivotal role of technology in healthcare, and its impact on public health overall, particularly for military veterans and healthcare systems.
Health communication is constantly evolving. How did MET’s curriculum prepare you to navigate industry changes, unique challenges, emerging technologies, and best practices?
The breadth of courses during my time at MET, from US Healthcare System (MET HC 550) to Biology of Disease (MET HC 652), Epidemiology for Health Communication (MET HC 651), Digital Marketing for Healthcare (MET HC 657), and Health Communication Principles and Strategies (MET HC 559) proved useful at various moments of my career. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I was able to translate new and evolving scientific information based on Centers for Disease Control guidance and other trusted sources of information. At the time, I worked for one of the region’s largest healthcare systems (MedStar Health) as a senior director of internal communications to support physician practices and hospitals.
The US Healthcare System (MET HC 550) course comes up in much of my daily work life. As a health communications professional in a hospital or healthcare setting, it’s important to build relationships across units and departments and be fully integrated with operations, clinical and non-clinical. This helps me be effective and responsive when faced with unique challenges, such as managing an emergency public health response. In less than a year in my current role, we’ve had two events that immediately took me back to Biology of Disease (MET HC 652) and Epidemiology for Health Communication (MET HC 651). We had an incident of foodborne illnesses and, more recently, the first measles exposure case in the state of Maryland. Both garnered significant media coverage and made my days quite busy.
While on multiple clinical calls during these incidents, I was grateful for my education at MET. First, as a communicator, it’s essential to be embedded when events like this happen. Because I studied epidemiology, I understood—when hearing guidance from infectious disease experts from our hospital system and partner agencies—why timing was of the essence with a measles exposure (e.g. contact tracing). Hearing and actually understanding most of the information firsthand as part of the response team makes a major difference in effectively setting a communications strategy, messaging and timing.
Were there any courses or faculty members who had a particularly strong impact on your learning experience? How did they shape your perspective or skillset?
I never thought I’d enjoy a science-based course like Epidemiology for Health Communication (MET HC 651), but Dr. Wayne LaMorte, now retired, made it engaging and understandable for us who have a health communications lens. The lessons are still valuable for my career.
What projects stood out to you the most during your time in the program, and why?
The Health Communication Principles and Strategies (MET HC 559) course was among my favorites because I enjoy public health campaigns, and it inspired me to launch into being a content creator and serve as an advocacy spokesperson around food allergies (@theallergymama). A project I did in Biology of Disease (MET HC 652), focused on the high prevalence of childhood asthma post-Hurricane Katrina, helped me really understand the pathological process of respiratory disease. I gained a better understanding of asthma, its triggers and how to support one of my daughters.
Balancing graduate studies with work and personal commitments can be challenging. How did you manage your time, and did MET’s flexible learning options help you succeed?
When I first started the program, we had a sudden family death and I considered not continuing the program. However, I had such compassionate support from the instructor and my new peers. Because of the design of the course and its flexibility, I was able to work through it and stay caught up. Later in the program, as life got hectic during summers, I even remember taking an exam in the business center of a hotel, monitored remotely by a testing center, while on vacation at the beach with my family. I am grateful for that kind of flexibility that still allowed for quality family time.
What’s one thing about MET or your experience that you wish more prospective students knew?
You will build a network of colleagues in a field of study that can help you professionally grow in your career. Some may become friends and see you through important milestones in your life.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your journey or insights for future students?
You control how engaged you’d like to be in the content and interactions within the course. Bloom where you are planted.